1. A strain of the rural form of tropical typhus has been established and maintained in guinea-pigs, and is now in its 97th generation. The history and characteristics of this strain are given. The clinical criterion of infection is a well-marked febrile reaction. Scrotal swelling does not occur. Ascites invariably follows intra-peritoneal inoculation of passage virus.
2. In more than one hundred other such attempts made in this laboratory it has proved impossible to maintain a strain beyond a few generations. Similarly all attempts to maintain the virus of the tsutsugamushi disease in guinea-pigs have failed. The guinea-pig must, therefore, be regarded as very insusceptible to the viruses of the rural typhus and tsutsugamushi group of fevers of Malaya.
3. Infection of rabbits by the intra-ocular inoculation of the virus of rural typhus and of the tsutsugamushi disease has been readily secured. The method, based on that of Nagayo et al., and the criteria of infection, are described in detail.
4. The white rat is readily infected with the virus of rural typhus, the infection being of the "inapparente" form. That the virus could be maintained with unabated virulence for 21 generations indicates, by the criterion of Nicolle, that rural typhus is a murine strain.
5. Monkeys have been successfully infected by the intradermal route with the virus of rural typhus and of the tsutsugamushi disease. At the sites of inoculation, in the case of both viruses, necrotic ulcers have developed that appear to be identical with one another, and with the initial lesion of the tsutsugamushi disease in man; in all other features the experimental infections in the monkey appear to be identical. Rabbits have been similarly infected.
6. The results of the Weil-Felix reactions of sera from rabbits and monkeys convalescent from experimental infection with rural typhus and the tsutsugamushi disease are summarized.
7. Methods of demonstration of Rickettsia from infected guinea-pigs and rabbits are described. In morphology, distribution and staining characteristics the Rickettsia demonstrable in material from animals infected with rural typhus and with the tsutsugamushi disease are identical, and do not appear to differ from the Rickettsia orientalis of Nagayo.
8. The experimental data secured indicate that, provided that intra-ocular inoculation is practised, the rabbit is the laboratory animal of choice in the case of the rural typhus and tsutsugamushi group of fevers (it being assumed that
expense and scarcity make extensive use of monkeys impracticable). Further, these data stress the remarkable similarity of the behaviour of these two viruses in experimental laboratory animals-a similarity that, as will be set forth in a later paper, is fully supported by cross-immunity experiments.
(1) Two strains of tropical typhus have been isolated from wild rats trapped in endemic areas.
(2) Both were isolated and maintained in guinea-pigs.
(3) One could be isolated in rabbits by the intra-ocular inoculation of virus, and maintained thus indefinitely. The features of this infection appeared to be identical with corresponding infections obtained with the viruses of rural typhus and the tsutsugamushi disease of human origin. Repeated attempts to isolate the other rat strain in rabbits in the same manner failed.
(4) Rickettsia were found with ease and in abundance in infected material from guinea-pigs infected with either strain, and from rabbits infected with the one-strain.
(5) The sera of rabbits infected with the two rat strains gave positive Weil-Felix reactions of significant titre.
(6) Cross-immunity tests in rabbits between one rat strain and six strains of huinan origin of rural typhus and tsutsugamushi showed a cross-immunity to exist, complete in five strains and partial in the sixth strain.
(7) A concomitant infection with sodoku was present in the guinea-pigs of botlh strains ; although this may have modified the clinical signs, the infection by a typhus virus could be determined by four decisive criteria.
(8) The conclusion is drawn that the murine origin of the virus of the rural typhus-tsutsugamuslhi group of diseases is now firmly established.
The genus Platyscelio Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae, Scelioninae) is a widespread group in the Old World, found from West Africa to northern Queensland, Australia. The species concepts are revised and a key to world species is presented. The genus is comprised of 6 species, including 2 known species which are redescribed: Platyscelioafricanus Risbec (Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Zimbabwe); and Platysceliopulchricornis Kieffer (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, Vanuatu, Vietnam). Five species-group names are considered to be junior synonyms of Platysceliopulchricornis: Platyscelioabnormis Crawford syn. n., Platysceliodunensis Mukerjee syn. n., Platysceliomirabilis Dodd syn. n., Platysceliopunctatus Kieffer syn. n., and Platysceliowilcoxi Fullaway. The following species are hypothesized and described as new taxa: Platyscelioarcuatus Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (Western Australia); Platysceliomysterium Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa); Platysceliomzantsi Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (South Africa); and Platysceliostriga Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (Western Australia).
Matched MeSH terms: Guinea-Bissau; Papua New Guinea; Guinea
Three new Indo-West Pacific species of pinnotherid crabs are described, one each of Arcotheres, Buergeres and Nepinnotheres. Arcotheres pollus, described from Paway Island, Mergui Archipelago, is most similar to A. boninensis (Stimpson, 1858), A. pernicola (Bürger, 1895) and A. purpureus (Alcock, 1900), sharing a transversely ovate carapace and long, slender, almost styliform dactyli of P4 and 5 that are about twice the length of those of P2 and 3. Buergeres choprai, described from Papua New Guinea, is most similar to B. deccanesis (Chopra, 1931) from eastern India but differentiated by segment proportions and setation of the walking legs. Buergeres tenuipes (Bürger, 1895) is synonymised with B. ortmanni (Bürger, 1895), which is also reported for the first time from Indonesia. A male of an undetermined species of Buergeres from the Philippines, possibly B. ortmanni, is figured and described, documenting the gonopod morphology in Buergeres for the first time. A key to the species of Buergeres based on females is provided. Nepinnotheres fulvia sp. nov. is also described from Papua New Guinea, and resembles N. cardii (Bürger, 1895) from the Philippines and Malaysia but can be distinguished by features of the chelipeds and maxilliped 3.
1. A strain of the urban form of tropical typhus has been established in guinea-pigs, and maintained in them for more than one hundred generations. The history and characteristics of the strain are given. The clinical criteria of infection are febrile and scrotal reactions.
2. Methods of demonstration of Rickettsia in material from infected guinea-pigs and rabbits are described. In morphology, distribution and staining characteristics these Rickettsia do not appear to differ from R. prowazeki.
3. The infection of rabbits by intra-ocular inoculation of virus has met with only partial success ; the strains rapidly lose virulence, and do not survive beyond the third generation. The results are closely similar to those reported by Nagayo et al., in corresponding infections of rabbits with the virus of typhus exanthematicus, and to those obtained by the authors in corresponding infections with a strain of Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
4. Infection of white rats has been readily secured, and has been of the "inapparente" form.
5. Two monkeys, inoculated intradermally with infected material, showed a mild general reaction only; no lesion developed at the site of inoculation.
6. The results of the Weil-Felix reactions of sera from rabbits and monkeys convalescent from the infection are summarized. Agglutination is of the OX19 type of Proteus X strains, never of the OXK type.
7. The experimental data obtained indicate that the guinea-pig is the laboratory animal of choice for the study of the urban form of tropical typhus.
Human biomonitoring programs of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been conducted around the world to assess human exposure and health risk. Inquiry into population PFAS levels in a socioeconomically and geographically unique region such as the Pacific Island Papua New Guinea, may provide new insights into PFAS exposure pathways and sources. This study presented the first indication of PFAS exposure in the Papua New Guinea population. De-identified serum samples were pooled from surplus pathology serum samples collected between 2019 and 2020. A total of 11 PFAS were detected in the serum pools including 10 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA) and 9Cl-F53B (a perfluorooctane sulfonic acid - PFOS alternative). The observed PFAA profile was somewhat similar to that observed for general population data of other countries such as Australia, Malaysia, and Canada suggesting similar exposure sources and/or pathways. However, PFAS concentrations were consistently lower than concentrations in the serum measured in pools obtained from Australia. The detection of 9Cl-F53B in all pools was a new finding which might be related to exposure from locally industrial sources.
Oxytelus species are widespread over all continents except Antarctica. Southeast Asia is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. In this paper, we review the Oxytelus species currently known from Southeast Asia. Seven species are described as new to science: O. castaneus sp. nov. (Vietnam), O. finitimus sp. nov. (Laos), O. grandiculus sp. nov. (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand), O. insulanus sp. nov. (Malaysia and Indonesia), O. lompobatangensis sp. nov. and O. poecilopterus sp. nov. (Indonesia), and O. sublividus sp. nov. (Vietnam and Laos). Seven new synonymies are proposed: O. ruptus Fauvel = O. sublucidus Cameron, O. lucens Bernhauer = O. malaisei Scheerpeltz, O. puncticeps Kraatz = O. (Anotylus) micantoides Scheerpeltz, O. subferrugineus Cameron = O. kedirianus Cameron, O. megaceros Fauvel = O. kalisi Bernhauer, O. subincisus Cameron = O. fruhstorferi Cameron, O. antennalis Fauvel = O. cheesmani Bernhauer. Lectotypes are designated for the following names: O. armiger Fauvel, O. bellicosus Fauvel, O. discalis Cameron, O. gigantulus Fauvel, O. ginyuenensis Bernhauer, O. javanus Cameron, O. kalisi Bernhauer, O. kedirianus Cameron, O. lucens Bernhauer, O. lucidulus Cameron, O. mandibularis Cameron, O. megaceros Fauvel, O. nilgiriensis Cameron, O. subferrugineus Cameron, O. subincisus Cameron, O. sublucidus Cameron, O. subsculptus Cameron, O. antennalis Fauvel (New Caledonia, New Guinea and Australia), O. cheesmani Bernhauer (New Hebrides), O. cheesmanianus Cameron (Papua New Guinea), O. hingstoni Cameron (India), and O. tibetanus Bernhauer (China). The species O. (Anotylus) transversipennis Scheerpeltz is transferred to the genus Anotylus. Other than the new species, nine previously known species are redescribed, a key to 30 species and line drawings or color photographs of 42 species are provided. Thus, a total of 30 species are recorded from Southeast Asia.
Four new species of Tambinia Stål (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Tropiduchidae), Tambinia conussp. n. (Papua New Guinea), Tambinia maculasp. n. (Malaysia: Borneo), Tambinia robustocarinasp. n. (Malaysia: Sabah) and Tambinia sexmaculatasp. n. (Australia: Kuranda) are described and illustrated from the Pacific region. The diagnostic characters of this genus are redefined. A checklist and a key to the known species of Tambinia are provided.
1. Cross-immunity tests between strains of rural typhus and tsutsugamushi in the guinea-pig, rabbit and monkey were made. Complete cross-immunity between the strains was demonstrated.
2. The problem of the absence of a primary ulcer in rural typhus and its presence in tsutsugamushi is discussed. Experimental findings are recorded; from consideration of these and certain clinical and epidemiological observations, the conclusion is drawn that one and the same virus may cause gradations of dermal lesion that vary greatly in extent and duration.
3. Correlation of the results of cross-immunity tests and experimental infections with clinical, aetiological, epidemiological and serological findings indicates that the two diseases are identical. Rural typhus is not a disease sui generis, and the term should be discarded, the older designation, "tsutsugamushi disease ", being retained.
Part VIII.
1. Cross-immunity experiments in the guinea-pig, rabbit and monkey were carried out with the viruses of the tsutsugamushi disease (including rural typhus) and the urban typhus of Malaya; they showed that immunogenically the two viruses are distinct.
2. The characteristics of setiology, epidemiology, serology and experimental infections are compared, and the conclusion drawn that the two diseases belong to entirely separate groups of rickettsial disease.
Part IX.
1. Cross-immunity experiments in the guinea-pig and rabbit were carried out with the viruses of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tsutsugamushi (including rural typhus) and urban typhus. They showed that, immunologically, tsutsugamushi
and spotted fever are entirely distinct; whereas urban typhus and spotted fever, though more distinct than alike immunologically, do possess a minor degree of reciprocal cross-immunity.
2. Spotted-fever vaccine was found to have no protective value against the viruses of tsutsugamushi and urban typhus.
1. Transmission of the virus of urban typhus under experimental conditions from rat to rat by the rat flea (X. cheopis) by feeding has been effected. Collateral attempts to transmit the virus of rural typhus by precisely the same procedure failed.
2. Transmission of the virus of urban typhus was also achieved by the inoculation of faeces or crushed tissue of infected fleas into the scarified skin of guinea-pigs.
3. Multiplication of the virus of urban typhus occurs within the rat flea.
4. Infection with the virus of urban typhus is not hereditary in the rat flea.
5. Attempts to transmit the virus of urban or rural typhus by two species of ticks failed. In the case of rural typhus a lessened mortality in the experimental guinea-pigs following test inoculation with passage virus makes it, however, difficult to exclude ticks entirely as a minor factor in the epidemiology of rural typhus.
The genus Paraheligmonelloides Fukumoto, Kamiya and Suzuki, 1980 (Nippostrongylinae) is revised and split into four genera, mainly based on characters of the synlophe not previously considered at the supraspecific level. These characters mainly include the homology of the left ridge with ridge 1', the relative size of the right ridge to the left ridge and to ridge 1' and the distribution of the largest ridges. Paraheligmonelloides sensu stricto, characterized by the homology of the left ridge with ridge 1', contains only the type species, Paraheligmonelloides kenyensis Fukumoto, Kamiya and Suzuki, 1980, parasitic in a lagomorph from Kenya. Krishnasamyos n. gen., characterized by ridge 1' forming a comarete, two minute left ventral ridges and ridge 1 larger than other dorsal ridges, only includes the species Krishnasamyos triangulus n. comb., parasitic in Malaysian murids. Hughjonestrongylus n. gen., characterized by numerous ridges markedly unequal in size, with the largest ridges grouped in relation to the lateral fields, includes Hughjonestrongylus ennisae n. comb., Hughjonestrongylus amplicaudae n. comb., Hughjonestrongylus mirzai n. comb., and Hughjonestrongylus singauwaensis n. comb., all parasitic in murids from Papua Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Syafruddinema n. gen., characterized by ridge 1 as long as other dorsal ridges and a gap associated with the left lateral field, between ridges 2' and 3', includes Syafruddinema paruromyos n. comb., Syafruddinema annandalei n. comb., and Syafruddinema eropeplios n. comb., parasitic in murids from Malaysia and Indonesia. A key to the proposed genera is provided.